Tamra RRT

I have been an RRT for 5 years and I love what I do and love my patients. The problem with respiratory is that there are few options in advancement. It seems you have to have RN next to your name to get anywhere. I do believe that RT students are better with critical thinking skills when they graduate. RT school can be more hands on the nursing school. I am currently debating on getting my RN. I believe that becoming an RT first helps. The bridge programs are very short. With more and more patients having COPD having a good knowledge base in respiratory is vital and nursing barely touches on the subject. It comes down to two things: nursing has a general knowledge base on most systems while respiratory knows a lot about cardiopulmonary. We are surrounded by those two systems for three to four years. It really depends on what area you want to go into. In the long run nursing pays better and there are more opportunities.